{"id":275,"date":"2019-11-07T15:36:02","date_gmt":"2019-11-07T15:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/?p=275"},"modified":"2019-12-12T22:14:49","modified_gmt":"2019-12-12T22:14:49","slug":"5-ways-to-cope-with-traumatic-stress-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/07\/5-ways-to-cope-with-traumatic-stress-2\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to Cope with Traumatic Stress"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\tFive Ways to Cope with Traumatic Stress\n\t<\/h2>\n

\n\t\tMarti Wibbels, MS, LMHC\n\t<\/h4>\n\t

 <\/p>\n

Everyone experiences trauma, so it\u2019s vital to know how to cope when it occurs. It can arrive without warning in what\u2019s known as \u201cBig T\u201d trauma, crashing life with stressors like hurricanes, floods, assault, abuse, a car accident, the loss of a loved one, or a cancer diagnosis. But the cumulative impact of \u201clittle t\u201d trauma can be just as debilitating as major traumatic events. People can feel vulnerable, hopeless, alone, or afraid, after either \u201cBig T\u201d trauma or an accumulation of \u201clittle t\u201d experiences like being misunderstood, losing a job, being betrayed by a friend or co-worker, a child\u2019s struggling in school, or making a cross-country (or cross-city) move.<\/p>\n

What can you do when trauma impacts your life?<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Realize you\u2019re not defective. No one was designed to cope with trauma\u2014the emotional equivalent of being hit with a Mac-truck. You wouldn\u2019t question your inability to cope if a truck incapacitated you, but do you criticize yourself if you feel depressed, anxious, or ashamed after being wounded by trauma?<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Learn to live in this moment. The human tendency is to mentally rehearse bad things that either have happened or are happening. Then our emotions get stuck in the pain rather than focusing on solutions. God promises strength for today\u2014not for yesterday. He gives strength to the weary. And to him who has no might He increases power<\/em> (Isaiah 40:29, AMP).<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Practice grounding techniques whenever an amygdala hijacking takes you to the 5Fs of Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fornicate, or Feed to move yourself back to your prefrontal cortex (for a description of the 5Fs and of how to utilize the three forms of grounding, read\u00a0Managing Anxiety<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rapidly identify crippling mind ANTs (automatic negative thoughts) and replace them with healthy thoughts. Learn how by reading my article on\u00a0Overcoming Depression<\/a> .<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Recognize trauma isn\u2019t who you are! Although your stress is real, you can develop strategies every day to help you live beyond it. The workbook, Core Healing from Trauma (available on Amazon), can help you move beyond your trauma and learn to enjoy life again.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 *\u00a0 *\u00a0 *\u00a0 *<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re currently under a physician\u2019s care for PTSD, depression, or anxiety, please don\u2019t stop taking medication without his or her supervision. * If you\u2019re unable to sleep at night, can\u2019t concentrate, are isolating from friends and family, and especially if you\u2019re considering suicide, please see a professional for help managing trauma. Numerous counselors are listed at the South Florida Association of Christian Counselors<\/a>, the\u00a0American Association of Christian Counselors<\/a>, or at the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation<\/a>. Ask questions to make sure the therapist cares and is qualified; you\u2019re worth getting the help you need!<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"2_CHEditorialPage_Grounding\"\n\t

\u00a9 2019 Marti Wibbels | website loved on by Agency O<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five Ways to Cope with Traumatic Stress Marti Wibbels, MS, LMHC   Everyone experiences trauma, so it\u2019s vital to know how to cope when it occurs. It can arrive without warning in what\u2019s known as \u201cBig T\u201d trauma, crashing life with stressors like hurricanes, floods, assault, abuse, a car accident, the loss of a loved…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"tpl-full-width.php","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":322,"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions\/322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}